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EPIC & Energy Star: It’s time for Heroes in the Fight against Climate Change

Wednesday, May 8th, 2013


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Ironman, The Avengers, how about Mary Katherine or maybe you and your kids…who are our real heroes today, and who is going to save the world?

As summer approaches and we look forward to enjoying family activities like camping, hiking, walks on the beach, fishing, swimming and biking – all of which nature helps make more magnificent – our families are also confront by new and daunting challenges that nature is angrily throwing our way: extreme weather, floods, droughts, forest fires, allergies on “steroids,” and super storms. What’s making these weather events worse and how can we “fight back” against these new challenges? Where and who are the heroes that will help us?

At ClimateMama we try to help you “connect the dots” between what we are doing that exacerbates weather events and accelerates climate change – things like the way we produce our energy and food and the burning of fossil fuels – and learn to create positive actions that we each can take as individuals, as a family, collectively and as a community to change our current course and bring runaway climate change under control. We need to learn to live and adapt to changes we have already put in motion, but at the same time mitigate the causes and move towards solutions that help us veer from the climate cliff in front of us. How can we, as Ghandi so eloquently stated, “BE the change we wish to see in the world?”

One easy and fun way this summer is to join us and our friends at The Big Green Purse who have teamed up with PTO Today, LG Electronics USA, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR program to promote Team ENERGY STAR, an exciting initiative developed to engage and educate American kids and their families about saving energy in the home. Team ENERGY STAR empowers kids to help protect the climate through easy-to-implement, money-saving actions and provides them an outlet for sharing their passion for preserving our environment.

This year ENERGY STAR has brought in some heroic characters from the new movie EPIC to help out. EPIC is a 3D adventure comedy that reveals a fantastical world unlike any other to help kids learn about the importance of saving energy while having fun at the same time. And in case you were wondering, Mary Katherine, or MK is the heroine in EPIC.

Climate Mama and Friends: Change a lIght, change the world.

In the movie, MK finds herself magically transported into this secret universe where she teams up with an elite band of warriors and a crew of comical, larger-than-life figures, to save their world…and ours. From the creators of ICE AGE and RIO, EPIC tells the story of an ongoing battle between the forces of good, which keep the natural world alive, and the forces of evil, which wish to destroy it. Energy Star is hoping that your kids (and you) will relate to some of the characters in this band of heroes, and that like them, your kids will see that EACH of us do matter and CAN make a difference in our world. So grab the kid in your life and join the Energy Star team today.

Being part of the team involves the following 4 simple steps:

• Taking action to reduce your energy use at home
• Helping your family and friends save energy
• Encouraging your family and friends to take the ENERGY STAR Pledge
• Inspiring others by sharing your story

Help your kids join Team ENERGY STAR where they will get easy-to-download educational and interactive materials, such as a comprehensive Action Kit with the ENERGY STAR Home Check-Up, an EPIC-themed activity booklet, and a Professor Bomba’s Binoculars kit to help kids see the world in a whole new way. Kids are also encouraged to come back and share their stories about protecting the environment by saving energy to inspire others.

Participants even have a chance to win cool prizes. Stories will be showcased on ENERGY STAR’s social media pages and the top stories will be featured on LG’s electronic billboard in New York’s Times Square. So grab the kids in your life and have them join in!

Climate Mama: Speaking out against Keystone Pipeline

I don’t know about you, but I OFTEN feel that I am fighting this EPIC battle right here in the “real world” of the United States of America. As I learn more and more about extreme forms of fossil fuel extraction, I feel it is “my job” as a mother to speak out, act out, and if necessary take the battle to extremes in order to help people wake up and see that we all need to be part of the solution as we work to protect our natural world. Sadly, there are many, many active forces of evil, trying to keep us addicted to fossil fuels and from veering off of the path in front of us which is leading towards the climate cliff. We need to be surging forward, towards a new path, one that is energy efficient and paved with clean, renewable energy!

Help your kids lead the way as they become our heroes of today and tomorrow…

It’s Do Something Wednesday, so DO SOMETHING: grab the kids in your life and Join the Energy Star Team Today!

Yours,

Climate Mama

FULL DISCLOSURE: I am writing about Team ENERGY STAR because I support the program and because I believe it is important to educate the public about energy efficiency and climate change. I have received a modest “thank you” reward from LG, an ENERGY STAR partner, in appreciation for my post. That gift in no way influenced my belief that saving energy is important and necessary.

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Posted in Do Something Wednesdays, Earth Day is Every Day, In The News, Lifestyle & Fun, Renewable Energy | No Comments »

Environmental Challenge: The End, or Just the Beginning?

Sunday, April 28th, 2013


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Our first Earth Day Challenge has ended, a full week of “daily” challenges, that got us thinking about things we use, buy and eat – where it all comes from – and why we need to be mindful about many of the things we in the developed world often take for granted.

What did the kids in your life think about “Meatless Monday” “Take Care of Yourself Tuesday” “Water Wednesday?” “Try a New Recipe Thursday?” “Foodie Friday?” and Satisfied Saturday?

Slow Down Sunday

At your family meeting or at breakfast or perhaps when you wake up the kids in your life or when you tuck them in for the night, take a few moments to reflect together on the challenges you chose to do this week. Maybe drinking more water improved your day and gave you more energy. Or perhaps you see the value in eating less meat for your own health and for our earth. Are you going to “reduce, reuse and YERDLE?”

Choose at least two of the actions you and the kids in your life completed this week and do them today. Follow through and see how changing a habit and creating a new action affects your day. Do you see you and your family doing any of these challenges all the time now? As Margaret Mead said: “Never doubt that a small group of people can change the world, in fact it is the only thing that has.”

Remind your kids about what another famous individual they may know – who cares greatly for our earth – told us:

Yours,

Climate Mama

Special thanks to Michel Aboodi for developing our first annual Earth Day Environmental and Climate Challenge!

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Posted in Climate Mama News, Earth Day is Every Day, Food, Holidays, Lifestyle & Fun | No Comments »

Environmental Challenge Day 6: Waste & YERDLE

Saturday, April 27th, 2013


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Photo Credit: Suzy Skye

On Earth Day, we launched our first Earth Day Challenge, a full week of “daily” challenges, that gets us thinking about things we use, buy and eat – where it all comes from – and why we need to be mindful about many of the things we in the developed world often take for granted. Check in with ClimateMama each morning to see what the next day’s challenge will be. Remember to have a quick family meeting at breakfast or dinner to discuss the daily challenge and see what the kids in your life have to say about it.

What did the kids in your life think about “Meatless Monday” “Take Care of Yourself Tuesday” “Water Wednesday?” “Try a New Recipe Thursday?” and “Foodie Friday?”

Today is Satisfied Saturday

Photo credit: Shutterstock

When we consume things, be it products we buy or foods we eat, we generate waste. Waste comes from wrappers, packaging, things we no longer want or feel we need and leftover food. If you’re feeling like going the extra mile, carry a garbage bag with you throughout the day and see how much you accumulate; a challenge for the kids in your life today? At the very least, ask them to consider these facts today every time they throw something away – on food waste alone:

• 1 billion dollars is spent a year just to dispose of food waste in the U.S.
• The Environmental Protection Agency says food leftovers are the single-largest component of the waste stream by weight in the United States.

While we are talking about waste, let’s talk about all the “stuff” we each accumulate every day, week and year and all the “new stuff” that you and the kids in your life buy that we may or likely may not really need. Stuff for a day at the beach, for one season of soccer or lacrosse, clothes for that “special party,” a new costume for Halloween, or decorations for your table for a dinner party you are giving. Did you know that for every pound of new goods produced, 71 pounds of waste are generated during manufacturing? This Earth Week, NBCUniversal is partnering with the sharing site Yerdle to help you minimize your impact on the planet by sharing your stuff. One person’s stuff is another person’s story! We thought we would share this fun program with you, as we challenge ourselves to be more mindful and carrying for our planet Earth.

Here’s how it works.


Our friends at Yerdle, a new mission-driven California Benefit corporation, are out to help people share with their friends rather than buying things new. On Yerdle, Facebook friends post items they’re willing to give away or loan, search for items they’re looking to get, and nab the things they want. Simple. Are you up for the challenge? Introduce your friends to Yerdle, have some fun and help do something good for our planet.

1) Join or host a Share & Tell Party
2) Post your stuff to share with friends. Discover other items that are up for grabs.
3) Tell the story of your sharing experiences on your favorite social media site using the hashtag #ShareandTell, and make sure to share your story with us at ClimateMama so we can share it with others too.

The decomposition of waste in landfills produces methane, a greenhouse gas that traps heat in our atmosphere, which accelerates climate change. According to the EPA, pound for pound, the comparative impact of methane on climate change is over 20 times greater than carbon dioxide over a 100-year period.

Remember, our challenge ends tomorrow with, Slow Down Sunday, so tune in!

Yours,

Climate Mama

Eating with the Environment in Mind was developed by Michelle Aboodi.

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Posted in Climate Mama News, Earth Day is Every Day, Food, Health & Fitness, Lifestyle & Fun, Recycling | No Comments »

Eating with the Enviroment (and Climate) in Mind: Day 5

Friday, April 26th, 2013


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On Earth Day, we launched our first Earth Day Challenge, a full week of “daily” challenges, that gets us thinking about what we eat, where it comes from and why we need to be mindful about many of the things we in the developed world often take for granted. Check in with ClimateMama each morning to see what the next day’s challenge will be. Remember to have a quick family meeting at breakfast or dinner to discuss the daily challenge and see what the kids in your life have to say about it.

What did the kids in your life think about “Meatless Monday” “Take Care of Yourself Tuesday” “Water Wednesday?” and “Try a New Recipe Thursday?”

Foodie Friday
When you stop by the grocery store today, make a point to pick up foods that are produced and supplied locally or within 500 miles of your home; if you aren’t sure ask the store clerk, grocer, butcher or baker. Maybe you know or have heard about a local restaurant that grows its own vegetables or prides itself in sourcing “locally.” If you don’t have time to grocery shop consider eating out at one of these special restaurants this weekend.

A concept we don’t think about often or talk about enough is “food miles.” How did the food that is on your table make it’s way to your home? Did your fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy ge to you via air, rail, truck or ship that traveled 40 or 4000 miles? And just to complicate matters more, even if your beef came from a farmer in your town or state, did the cow, pig or lamb that she is raising travel from across the country to get to her, or was it born and raised on that farm? What goes into creating or growing your food and how far IT traveled is as important in deriving the true carbon footprint of what you are eating as is where it was grown or put together. Discuss this with the kids in your life, help them understand that many things aren’t as simple as they seem.

Do try to eat foods that are “in season” and “local” to your area. Be aware that fertilizers used to grow our food and pesticides that facilitate the growing of many crops are often derived from petrochemicals and not only harm our climate, but our bodies, air and water as well. Check out the Environmental Working Groups “Dirty Dozen plus” list of fruits and vegetables with the worst pesticide residue in them. Try to buy organic if you can, especially when it comes to these Dirty Dozen pus.

Take the kids in your life to a farmers market this weekend. Talk to the farmer and learn more about locally grown food. More often then not, even when considering the inputs that go into getting it to the market, locally grown food, in season, is better for our air, water and climate then foods that have to travel a long distance to get to us. As well, you are supporting small local farms that are quickly becoming a thing of the past.

To produce, transport, and distribute food is a long and systematic process. We put things into our bodies, often without questioning what it will do for us, good or bad, in the long term. Today, engage the kids in your life and take the time to raise questions (even if you don’t have the answers) about where your food is coming from, how the food is produced and how long it may have taken to get to your table or how long it has been on the shelf before you bought it.

Tune in tomorrow for “Satisfied Saturday” where we look at the issue of waste in the foods we eat and the products we use everyday.

Yours,

Climate Mama

Eating with the Environment in Mind was developed by Michelle Aboodi.

Produce photo credit: Elizabeth Thomsen via photopin cc

Farm photo credit: kevin dooley via photopin cc

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Posted in Climate Mama News, Earth Day is Every Day, Food, Health & Fitness, Lifestyle & Fun | No Comments »

Eating with the Enviornment (and Climate) In Mind: Day 4

Thursday, April 25th, 2013


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Photo Credit: Juliet Mciver

On Earth Day, we launched our first Earth Day Challenge, a full week of “daily” challenges, that gets us thinking about what we eat, where it comes from and why we need to be mindful about many of the things we in the developed world often take for granted. Check in with ClimateMama each morning to see what the next day’s challenge will be. Remember to have a quick family meeting at breakfast or dinner to discuss the daily challenge and see what the kids in your life have to say about it.

What did the kids in your life think about “Meatless Monday” “Take Care of Yourself Tuesday” and “Water Wednesday?”

Today is: Try a New Recipe Thursday
You’re almost done with the work week; why not try something new? Our intern Michelle tells us that she “admires vegans because in a world that is slowly progressing toward abstaining from eating and using animal products, it is not always easy to get a salad over an omelet or a sandwich without meat.” Vegan food and markets are not yet nearly as accessible as mass produced meats and chickens. Refresh your memory and reread Monday’s challenge, where there were many reasons why veganism benefits the environment. Let your kids help you choose a menu for tonight’s meal, or make a plan for a weekend feast that uses new recipes. Share some of your ideas with us!

We are calling Friday: Foodie Friday
Plan for it and if you have time to stop by the grocery store today or tomorrow morning, pick up foods that are produced and supplied locally or within 500 miles of your home; if you aren’t sure ask the store clerk, grocer, butcher or baker. Maybe you know or have heard about a local restaurant that grows its own vegetables or prides itself in sourcing “locally.” If you don’t have time to grocery shop consider eating out at one of these special restaurants this weekend. More tomorrow on ideas and information about why the food that you eat impacts the air that we breath, our water and our climate!

Yours,

Climate Mama

Eating with the Environment in Mind was developed by one of our interns Michelle Aboodi.

photo credit: Muffet via photopin cc

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Welcome to Climate Mama

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You are a mother, a father, a grandparent, an uncle, an aunt, a teacher or a child at heart. When you hear the Native American saying, “We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children”, it makes you stop for a moment and think. You love nature, travel, adventure and believing in a world that is special and unique. Climate change and global warming are words that alarm you, that often seem too big to get your arms around. You care about what’s happening to the world and notice small changes in your own life that seem to point in the direction of a threatened environment. But you wonder if these changes are real, and if they are you can’t imagine what you can do to help change what is happening.

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Climate Mamas and Papas

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Climate Change so often seems too big to get our hands around. We wonder where we can start and how we can actually make a difference. Each one of us has a different path that we will follow. Some of us cut a wider swath than others, but each of us has a role to play. We would like to introduce you to some amazing individuals, Climate Mamas and Papas who are making a difference, who are, through their daily lives, affecting the lives of all of us. They inspire us, empower us, and challenge us to reach for the stars, to strive to do the best we can to help change the crash course we are currently on with our environment. Lets meet some of these amazing people and find out what inspires them. Meet our featured Climate Mama, Desiree Di Mauro today!

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Featured Partner & Campaigns

 

The Climate Reality Project is one of the world’s leading organizations dedicated to mobilizing action around climate change. With a global movement that is more than 2 million strong and a grassroots network of trained Climate Leaders, Climate Reality is "spreading the truth and unleashing the cultural momentum to solve the climate crisis."

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